City Councilmen call on state to pay for erroneous tax credits

Two Baltimore City Councilmen are formally calling on the state of Maryland to cover the costs of erroneous historic property tax credits that have cut revenue to the city over the past several years.

Councilmen Bill Henry, who represents north Baltimore, and James Kraft, who represents southeast Baltimore, plan to introduce a resolution Monday that will call on the state to "find an appropriate mechanism whereby the city of Baltimore can be compensated for lost property tax revenue, so as not to negatively impact blameless homeowners and not unduly burden the city's finances because of flawed calculations used by the state."

Up to 300 Baltimore homeowners are seeing a jump in their property tax bills because the city says they received excessive credits for historic renovations. While city officials say they won't seek back taxes from those who benefited from the miscalculations, property owners will have to pay more than they expected, starting with the fiscal year that began July 1.

The increases range from hundreds of dollars to several thousand. And because the historic tax credit lasts for 10 years, the increases will amount to more than $15,000 for some homeowners.

Officials at the state Department of Assessments and Taxation acknowledge many of the errors originated at the state level, but have said the city bears partial blame for some errors and argue that certain problems cited by the city merely reflect different methods.